gidchaz, Maurice: China--not out of the bamboo forest yet:
Read following in context of earlier Reuters dispatch from Jiang in which he said WTO membership is in Washington's court:
Wednesday September 8, 8:30 pm Eastern Time
FOCUS-U.S. says China running out of time on WTO
(Recasts with quotes, background)
By Adam Entous
AUCKLAND, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The United States warned China on Thursday that it was running out of time if it hoped to join the World Trade Organisation this year.
U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said the onus was on Beijing to ''re-engage'' negotiations with Washington, which holds the key to its accession into the 134-member trade body.
But she played down expectations that the governments would settle their differences in negotiations this week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in New Zealand.
''First and foremost, re-engagement between the United States and China on the full range of issues is terribly important and would in-and-of itself constitute a significant outcome,'' Barshefsky told reporters.
Beijing broke off WTO negotiations with the United States in May after NATO's bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, and has insisted that it was up to the United States to resume talks.
Barshefsky was due to meet with her Chinese counterpart later on Thursday on WTO and other issues, hoping to lay the groundwork for talks on Saturday between U.S. President Bill Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
''China will need to consider whether it wishes to re-engage in substantive negotiations on its WTO accession,'' Barshefsky said. ''As we have said over the course of the last four months that question is largely up to China...I would not want to predict any particular outcomes in any particular areas.''
U.S. and Chinese negotiators have no time to waste.
WTO ministers will launch a new round of global trade talks in Seattle in late November and China had high hopes of participating as a full-fledged member of the trade body.
''Certainly China is under some significant time pressure if it wishes to be a member of the WTO by the time of the Seattle meeting, let alone by year-end,'' Barshefsky said.
To become a member of the WTO, which sets global trading rules, China must complete a series of trade agreements with individual countries, including the United States.
Washington and Beijing were close to reaching a WTO agreement in April when China agreed to reduce tariffs, open markets and increase access in such areas as agriculture, telecommunications and financial services.
But Clinton backed away from a final deal to try to win more concessions on textiles, banking and anti-dumping issues. That decision drew fire from some business leaders who said Beijing had offered enough to win Washington's support at the WTO.
Barshefsky said the package proposed by China in April was a ''starting point'' for renewed negotiations.
''That package has never been taken off the table, and we would expect to essentially pick up where we left off.''
U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley earlier told Reuters that China must go beyond the April terms if it hoped to complete a deal with Clinton and get it through the U.S. Congress this year.
If China refused, Daley said ''it would be very difficult to expect that that deal would survive.''
The Republican-controlled Congress would not vote on China's WTO entry.
But as part of the pact, Clinton must persuade lawmakers to grant Beijing permanent most-favored nation status, which the United States now refers to as ''normal trade relations.''
Analysts said it would be a difficult fight for the White House.
Democrats want China to improve human rights and labor standards before reaping the benefits of WTO membership.
On the Republican side, many lawmakers want Clinton to address their concerns about alleged Chinese espionage at U.S. nuclear labs, and are pressing the White House to increase security for Taiwan.
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